Alok Vasudev, Co-Founder, Standard Crypto

Episode 71 of Season 5 of The Scoop was recorded with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Standard Crypto Co-Founder Alok Vasudev.

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In this episode of The Scoop, The Block's Frank Chaparro is joined by Alok Vasudev, co-founder of Standard Crypto, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage crypto and web3 investing.

Outline:
00:12 - Are we back?

02:23 - Crypto market maturity

06:41 - Alpha

09:45 - Crypto's application layer

14:25 - Web3 social

18:50 - Blockchain gaming

25:00 - Standard Crypto's thesis

26:13 - Tech advancements

31:10 - Higher lows

34:53 - Closing thoughts

Vasudev, who previously worked in growth-stage venture investing before pivoting to build a fund dedicated entirely to blockchain-based companies, brings an investor's vantage point to a conversation recorded during what much of the industry still regarded as a prolonged bear market. He argues that despite depressed prices, the underlying fundamentals of the crypto industry were arguably stronger than in prior cycles, pointing to more sophisticated developer tooling, maturing infrastructure, and a wave of application-layer projects that were less speculative and more product-focused than earlier eras of the market.

Vasudev discusses how Standard Crypto approaches sourcing and evaluating opportunities during downturns, describing bear markets as periods when serious builders tend to stay and opportunistic ones tend to leave, which he views as a useful filter for identifying durable teams.

Much of the conversation touches on specific sectors he was watching closely, including web3 social platforms attempting to give users more ownership over their data and audiences, and blockchain gaming projects working to make crypto-native mechanics feel native to mainstream players rather than bolted on. He also addresses the technical progress being made on scalability and user experience, arguing that friction that had long kept mainstream consumers away from crypto applications was steadily being engineered away.

On price action, Vasudev references the pattern of higher lows forming across major assets as a signal that selling pressure was exhausting itself, offering a cautiously optimistic read on where the market stood relative to prior cycles. Throughout, he shares Standard Crypto's broader investment thesis and his outlook for which parts of the crypto stack are best positioned to attract the next wave of mainstream users and capital as the industry works its way out of the downturn, offering listeners a builder-and-investor's checklist for separating durable projects from the speculative excess of prior cycles.